Dainippon Sumitomo licenses cancer drug from Boston Biomedical for up to $100 million

In a fourth product rights acquisition in a matter of two weeks, Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma (4506: JP) has signed a product option license deal with the USA’s privately-held Boston Biomedical (BBI) for the latter’s BBI608 for all oncology indications in Japan and exclusive right of negotiation for the compound for the USA and Canada.

Under the terms of the deal, BBI will receive $15 million upfront and clinical trial support on signing. During this option agreement period, DSP will pay a maximum of $55 million for part of the development costs of BBI608 and for continuation of the option. Assuming DSP exercises the option for Japan, on successful clinical development and commercialization of the compound in Japan, BBI could receive a maximum of around $100 million in aggregate, including milestone payments associated with successful development and commercialization, in addition to running royalties.

BBI608 is an orally administered, first-in-class, small molecule anti-cancer drug that targets highly malignant cancer stem cells as well as other heterogeneous cancer cells. In clinical trials to date, BBI608 has shown excellent safety, favorable pharmacokinetics, and encouraging signs of anticancer activity. BBI608 is under Phase I extension clinical studies in colorectal cancer and Phase Ib/II trials in multiple solid tumor types.